2015 Special Issue of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand) - Reading, Interpreting, Experiencing

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The volume Reading, interpreting, experiencing: an inter-cultural journey into Greek letters includes refereed articles, which discuss a variety of diachronic themes in the area of Greek studies relating to ancient Greek philosophy, Modern Greek and Cypriot literature, history, culture and identity, Greek migration and diaspora, and teaching Greek language online. The articles included in this volume endeavour to re-examine some of the most important philosophical questions of the Greek Classical Period and explore the Hellenic culture in the modern era. The focus of this publication is to analyse, comment, and creatively rethink the Hellenic world in its dialectic density, cultural complexity and diasporic cosmopolitism, all of which are relevant in today’s speedily globalised humanity.

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    Parochialism in Perth: aspects of regionalism amongst Western Australia's Castellorizian community (Final)
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Yiannakis, John N
    Founded in 1912, the Castellorizian Association of Western Australia was the first Greek regional fraternity established anywhere in Australia. In the celebratory atmosphere of its centenary year, Perth’s Castellorizian population had the opportunity for a more critical and introspective examination of its community role. This paper seeks to outline aspects of that role and contribution to the Western Australian Greek community, past and present, while noting that in undertaking that role, Castellorizians were often dismissive of other Greeks and have sometimes excluded them from the local community’s mythology. This attitude has impacted on community politics, relationships and development. While such parochialism is not unique to Castellorizians or Western Australia, did Perth’s isolation, Castellorizian numerical dominance and assimilation accentuate this trend and to what effect?
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    Modern Greek at tertiary level: applying innovative methods of effective assessment and delivery online
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Wright, Cecily ; Litinas, Antonios ; Palaktsoglou, Maria ; Tsianikas, Michael
    In a determined effort to preserve the Modern Greek language as an important part of Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity, the Logos Australian Centre for Hellenic Language and Culture established at Flinders University in South Australia in 2011 has been enhancing the delivery of Modern Greek and enabling a wider delivery of this small enrolment language by developing online content and an effective model for delivery via synchronous and asynchronous technologies. Six Modern Greek language topics, two cultural topics and some extension materials have been developed and delivered online via the university’s learning management system known as Flinders Learning Online (FLO).
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    Aristotle, potential and actual, conflicts
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Turner, Andrew J
    In The Metaphysics Book Theta, Chapter four, Aristotle claims that to state that “some X is possible but X will never be” is a mistake. In effect, he collapses the possible into the actual. This view conflicts with the existence of dispositions which I argue exist, as they are indispensable to science. In Theta Chapter three, Aristotle sets out a test of possibility whereby we assume that some entity exists and then see if an impossibility ensues. I apply this test to Aristotle’s theory and show that it entails the impossibility of dispositions. Given the clear existence of dispositions, Aristotle’s conflation of the possible with the actual fails his own test of possibility and must be wrong.
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    Καβάφης: “Ας αφεθώ σ’ αυτήν”
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Tsianikas, Michael
    Please Note: This article is in Greek. Kavafis: Let me submit to Art: Beginning with the poem “Κίμων Λεάρχου, 22 ετών, σπουδαστής ελληνικών γραμμάτων”, this study reveals that behind his “synthetic” poetry lays a secret desire for Kavafis to compose a “novelistic” prose. It is an ambitious but almost undeclared project, which could embrace not only diachronic characters but also philosophical and cosmopolitan ideas from the Hellenistic era (like epicurean hedonism) to the 20th century, in an “epigrammatic” approach. Other important issues arise, such as: the antithesis between philosophically mature subject on one hand and “educated”/uneducated characters dealing with every day unsolved passionate matters, on the other. Kavafis seems to develop a particularly strong interest in the second ones. Analysing Kavafi’s poem, when he is dealing with both, we can decode not only his literary passions but also his theory about a poem as a “synthetic” combination of tales, ideas and lust narratives: the dream trip for a postmodern sophist.
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    Greek embroideries: the early collectors and their ongoing legacy
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Simpson, Cheryl Ann
    The early collectors of Greek embroidery left a substantial legacy of unique textile work for the benefit of all. Today, we can still see examples of these rare embroideries in major museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This paper explores the influence of political debate about the nature of being Greek on the collecting practice of British archaeologists. It shows that due to views prevailing at the time, there are significant omissions in major collections.
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    Don Dunstan & Cyprus: the1957 "Fact-Finding Mission" and beyond
    (Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2015) Shialis, Maria
    This paper examines for the first time the relationship Don Dunstan, the Member of Parliament for Norwood (1953–1979) and Premier of South Australia (1967–1968 and 1970–1979) had with the Cypriot population of South Australia. It analyses primary resources, such as oral history testimonies, Dunstan’s manuscripts and archival material, along with secondary resources, such as newspaper articles and books. The findings indicate Dunstan played a significant role within the Cypriot and wider community throughout his political career.